It has long been the practice to attach loose papers to a backing member or to the interior of a file folder by means of a sheet metal fastener or binder having a central portion from the opposite ends of which extend a pair of paper impaling prongs. These prongs are extendable generally vertically from the backing member for purposes of placement of holes in the paper over the prongs after which the prongs are bent downwardly against or toward the backing member.
Quite commonly, the fastener device or binder has the central portion attached to the backing member or folder so that it becomes a permanent part of the folder. Several different techniques for attachment of the binder to the folder have been developed, but all of these attachment techniques have imparted substantial cost and weakened folders to the folder binder combination.
One of the current commercial techniques for securement of the central portion of the binder to the backing member is by forming ears or tabs on the central portion of the binder, which ears or tabs are, during assembly of the folder and binder, forced through the body of the folder and bent outwardly under the central portion of the file folder so as to lock the binder to the folder. But the formation of these ears on the sheet metal fastener body substantially increases the width of the strip from which the fastener is stamped during manufacture, with the result that the presence of the ears on the tabs increases the total quantity of metal employed in the fastener by as much as 25-50%, depending upon the length of the ears or tabs. Furthermore, in order to assemble this type of binder to a backing member, it is necessary to punch a series of spaced slots in the locking member for acceptance of the tabs or ears of the binder. These spaced slots naturally weaken the backing member about the area of the binder such that with heavy duty filing and frequent usage, the binder may be torn loose from the folder.
Another technique for securing the central portion of a sheet metal binder to a backing member or folder is to attach to the central portion of the base member an adhesive plate made from reinforced paperboard or similar material having some form of adhesive, such as hot melt glue, on one surface. This plate has holes adjacent its opposite ends through which the prongs of the fastener extend as illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,104. The central portion of the sheet metal binder is attached to this backing plate by the adhesive, and the complete backing plate is subsequently adhered to the surface of the backing member or folder. This type of attachment of the fastener to the folder though is relatively expensive, involving not only expensive machinery for manufacturing and assembling the fastener and the attachment plate, but also relatively expensive machinery for assembling the fastener to the backing member or folder. Furthermore, this type of binder is of necessity attached to the inside surface of the folder. The attachment of the binder to the folder therefore relies solely for its strength upon the adhesive bond of this plate to the inside surface of the folder. In use, this type of binder is subject to being pulled away from the inside surface of the folder with the result that the binder may relatively easily be pulled free from the folder, either because of adhesive failure or pulling away of the surface skin of the folder from the folder body.
Yet another current commercial practice for attachment of the central portion of a sheet metal binder to a backing member has been to apply release or pressure sensitive adhesive to one surface of the central portion of the binder and overlay that pressure sensitive adhesive with a release liner paper or similar material. This binder is attached to the folder by removal of the liner material to expose the pressure sensitive adhesive after which the prongs of the binder are inserted through holes in the backing member or folder such that the pressure sensitive adhesive comes into contact with the surface of the backing member or folder and adheres the binder to it. This type of binder generally has rounded corners on the central portion of the binder so as to minimize the binders of adjacent folders catching and hanging up on one another or on the edges of adjacent folders when the backing members or folders are filed.
It has been an objective of this invention to provide an improved binder and folder combination which minimizes not only cost but also which minimizes filing problems encountered as a result of exposed binders catching and hanging up on the edges of adjacent binders or folders.
Yet another objective of this invention has been to provide a stronger and longer lasting binder and folder combination by:
(a) eliminating the need for binder tabs or ears and spaced slots in the backing member or folder to accommodate those tabs or ears. The elimination of those slots in the backing member or folder eliminates a weak point in the folder and reduces the possibility of the binder being torn from the backing member or folder; and PA1 (b) adhesively attaching the binder to the outside surface of the folder (as opposed to the inside surface). The user of the folder, therefore, when pulling the binder open, pulls the binder toward rather than away from the adhesive because the adhesive is sandwiched between the binder and the outside surface of the folder or backing member. In that way, the binder and folder combination relies upon the strength of the entire thickness of folder material for its strength, rather than the strength of the adhesive bond alone. PA1 a front cover sheet; PA1 a rear cover sheet pivotally connected to the front cover sheet and having a pair of spaced openings defined therein; and PA1 an adhesive layer on an operatively outer side of the rear cover sheet, between the openings. PA1 a front cover sheet; PA1 a rear cover sheet pivotally connected to the front cover sheet and having a depression on an operatively outer side thereof in which the body portion of the binder is received and a pair of spaced openings through which the prongs may pass.